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Loki and Stump Grinder: 5-11-08 Koru style wall hanging |
Loki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 04, 2005
Posts: 541
From: Boca Raton, FL
|  Posted: 2005-11-28 05:37 am Permalink
Thanks everyone for the kind words of encouragement...This is so much fun...We didnt turn the TV on all weekend long...now the neighbors are starting to get involved...we're not the only crazy tiki people anylonger...
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"He who does anything because it is the custom makes no choice."
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McTiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 22, 2004
Posts: 1935
From: Sunny Florida
| Posted: 2005-11-28 08:01 am Permalink
Sweet 1st Loki. Aloha
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JohnnyP
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 23, 2005
Posts: 1689
From: Attica, MI
| Posted: 2005-11-28 10:04 am Permalink
Great job, I am impressed every time somebody carves something that big with just hand tools. Looks like you've started with the right tools and paid attention to all the lessons here from the masters. I wish I had their advice on my first several tikis and carvings.
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MooneyTiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 28, 2005
Posts: 578
From: Jensen Beach,fla
| Posted: 2005-12-03 10:53 am Permalink
Aloha Loki!!!!!!!!!!
Good job loki!!!!! I wish my first tikis looked that good.Keep carving and having fun and being creative!I see you picked up a few carving chisels are those some of the ons from woodcraft that Benzart suggested? Aloha for now, your friend , Mooney
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Tiki G.
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 28, 2005
Posts: 380
From: Jacksonville Beach, FL
| Posted: 2005-12-03 10:59 am Permalink
Isn't it great to have something to do that you both enjoy. MORE POWER TO YOU TWO!!!! Lookin good:)
Go get'em guy's...and gals.
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Loki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 04, 2005
Posts: 541
From: Boca Raton, FL
| Posted: 2005-12-05 05:50 am Permalink
Weekend update:
Mooney- I did take Benz advice and purchased a handful of wonderful Henry Taylor Chisels. They really make the work easier.
After a long week of working my real job, we finally got back to carving this weekend. Hurricane Wilma did more dammage than we thought. Apparently, high wind speeds can snap the heart of palms. The heart is located at the top most part of the tree where the newest fronds come from. We have a large Queen palm that we were having trimmed and we found out the heart snapped and the tree was dying from the top down. I know people have had a difficult time with carving queen so i decided to give it a go in the near future. As mentioned many time before they will rot from the inside. In an old post someone mentioned that the inside core can be pulled out, making the log hollow. I have posted some pics of the process for those of you interested. The log in the photo is about 4' tall and still fresh. This made the removal of the core more difficult than i was hoping for. There is a very clear line from the hard wood on the outside to the gooey inside. I attempted to remove what i could, but i think it needs more time to break up. I look forward to the stink it will no doubt cause. I found the best method for removal of a newer core is the claw end of a hammer. It is stringy and can be pried out with some effort. I got down as deep as i could and decided to wait until it gets mushier. I did find a smaller log and split it in half and removed the core on the inside. This will make a wonderful mask for future carving. It was much easier with the log split. And again i used the claw of the hammer to scoop it out.
I also had an stump of coconut that had a lot of rot in it and decided to make blocks out of the good parts to make smaller faces. Once my hook knives arrive we will start attacking these guys. One for me and one for lady loki.
So, now that we have some logs ready for our next carvings i should update on our first tikis.
I have affectionatly named my first tiki, Mamae tuara- the Maori word for painful back. My back is really suffering for his cause. I have had a very difficult time with the nose. I made some early mistakes and now am trying to fix it. Basically, i made the nose ridges to flat and they stood out as almost 2D. I have decided to take away more of the cheek area at an angle to salvage the nose. Its working but I'm not happy with it yet. The eyes are an experiment but i'm starting to like the look. Still doing it all by hand with the chisels. The mouth was just an experiment using a gouge, but i think i like the look. I really want to finish him soon and move on the the next victim.
lady lokis tiki has really taken on some progress. She has decided to add a body to it. I really admire her for trying this. I know i wouldnt have tried this. She put it well, "It's my frist tiki, so if it doesnt work, oh well." The thing is it is working. She still has work to do on his face, especially the eyes. Look for them to dramatically change in the future. The arms are really coming out well, and he even has a little butt starting. Kudos for her tackling this.
We even got one of our neighbors involved. The rest of the neighborhood must think were nuts...three people banging away at logs for hours...what fun.
On the queue: I'm going to make a maori kotiate (violin shape club). When we visited NZ last year i'm still kicking myself for not buying one there, so, now with BK's inspiration, i'm going to make one myself. Its not going to be kauri wood of course, but i think it will work fine...Then a smaller face like Benz makes to work on my hand carving skills. Lady loki will attack another larger tiki.
Thanks for reading this long babble...more updates as they happen.
-Loki
_________________
"He who does anything because it is the custom makes no choice."
[ This Message was edited by: Loki 2005-12-05 11:38 ]
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Aaron's Akua
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Jul 09, 2004
Posts: 1594
From: Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
| Posted: 2005-12-05 12:28 pm Permalink
Excellent progress... Loki, are you carving these on the floor? I used to kill my back that way too. Try raising them to a comfortable level. Either a bench or a workmate - something like that. You have to be comfortable to make nice tikis.
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"Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness."
-Pablo Picasso
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Loki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 04, 2005
Posts: 541
From: Boca Raton, FL
| Posted: 2005-12-10 4:35 pm Permalink
Finally, the first Tiki is finished.
He was all done with hand tools, and a quick sanding and stain...
Lessons learned:
-Hand tools are great, but i cant wait to try some electric ones to speed up the process.
- found myself trying to make all the cuts perfect and wasted a lot of time. the sanding helps clean up a lot of carving lines.
-I finally made myself a carving bench so i dont kill the rest of my back. Thanks Moon for the pics of yours.
-I need to exergerate the features next time. Make the eyes futher apart.
-Work on carving with a partner. Lady Loki and I have had a blast working on our tikis. We cant wait until the weekends so we can carve.
Lady loki should be finishing her up tomorrow.
So, here they are.
Here he is waiting for his turn to drive the car...I kept telling him he couldnt because he cant drive stick...his response "I am a Stick."
Lady Loki's...the feet and arms are really looking great, i cant wait to see it finished.
Next on the queue is a Maori Patu...pics as we progress. Thanks for looking. Aloha
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"He who does anything because it is the custom makes no choice."
[ This Message was edited by: Loki 2005-12-10 16:42 ]
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GMAN
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 14, 2005
Posts: 2994
From: My Island
| Posted: 2005-12-10 4:55 pm Permalink
Loki,
Those are killer man! You guys have it going on. You picked this up very fast. I can't wait to see what the other one looks like finished, and also, what you come up with next. Any word on the S. Florida tiki jam?
-Gman
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Benzart
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 09, 2004
Posts: 10306
From: Port Saint Lucie, Florida
| Posted: 2005-12-10 9:42 pm Permalink
Yes you 2 have gone above and beyond and just barely scratched the surface. The fun has Just begun. You will look back on this in about a year and say to yourselves, "Wow, were we CrAzy or Sumpthin? What possessed us to try sumpthin like this. That was SO Good and we were like Blindly having fun........." Yous till won't believe you have pulled this off so well, And you will be black and blue from pinching yourselfs so much to see if you are dreaming.
Very well done. I expect more great work from the both of you. Keep it up.
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8FT Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 30, 2003
Posts: 1172
From: Kansas City, MO
| Posted: 2005-12-11 12:57 pm Permalink
Congrats to you both for being so brave and diving in. Outstanding results! Be sure to continue taking advantage of the free wood supply. Up here I have to wait for an ice storm or an unguarded construction site to get at a log or two. Not that its any fun gathering wood in winter! Terrific seeing you share the fun with family & neighbors. Aloha
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surfintiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 30, 2004
Posts: 1561
From: S. Chatham, MA
| Posted: 2005-12-11 2:34 pm Permalink
Great stuff! Man you really learn a lot on the first few tikis. Think of the struff you'll know after a dozen!
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Aaron's Akua
Grand Member (8 years)
Joined: Jul 09, 2004
Posts: 1594
From: Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
| Posted: 2005-12-11 3:15 pm Permalink
These are two first tikis to be proud of. Nice WRX, by the way! Let's see Lady Loki's after it's done too. Good luck with the Maori carving and be sure to show us more now that you're hooked.
_________________
"Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness."
-Pablo Picasso
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JohnnyP
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 23, 2005
Posts: 1689
From: Attica, MI
| Posted: 2005-12-11 3:43 pm Permalink
Those are excellent! OK I want to see all the practice ones you didn't show us. You two make quite a team.
JP
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Loki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 04, 2005
Posts: 541
From: Boca Raton, FL
| Posted: 2005-12-11 5:28 pm Permalink
Lady Loki has finished her first victim.
She decided to use the burn tecnique, and it really worked out well.
The three amigos. Neighbor TikiScott really showed us up with his first attempt. We all had a blast carving the past weekends. With a garage full of palm logs, were ready for round two.
I started work on the patu (kotiate)
[ This Message was edited by: Loki 2005-12-12 05:28 ]
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